Graham Poll: Webb did well to stop a red cauldron spilling over

Liverpool v Man United

Historically the biggest game, it correctly had the current No.1 referee in charge. Howard Webb judged his level of involvement to perfection and did not overreact in a red-hot atmosphere.

He was helped by Carlos Tevez 'gifting' him a routine yellow card in the 20th minute - exactly the time in a game when a referee likes to remind players of his presence. A red card might well have been shown to Nemanja Vidic when he deliberately brought down Robbie Keane for what could have been seen as a goalscoring opportunity.

Vidic was the 'last man' but that phrase has no place in the Laws of the Game and Webb judged that Keane had knocked the ball far enough ahead to give Rio Ferdinand a good chance of intercepting it. Vidic didn't make the most of that escape and committed an obvious second cautionable foul to leave Webb with no option but to show the red card.

While not a sparkling performance, Webb got all of the big decisions right and enhanced his growing reputation as England's top referee.

Man City v Chelsea

Unbelievable. I am asked to monitor two games and witness exactly what infuriates fans - two similar incidents which appear to be punished inconsistently.

It looked as if Mark Halsey had dismissed John Terry for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity. With his opponent, Jo, still having more than 40 metres to cover and Ricardo Carvalho in close attendance, it would have made Webb's punishment of Vidic appear lenient.

However, as Halsey has reported Terry for serious foul play due to the cynical nature of his challenge then the FA will be hard pressed to overturn the dismissal.

This is very hard on the England captain who, in my opinion, only deserved a yellow card and, if banned, will not only join Vidic on the sidelines next week but also miss Chelsea's two games after that.

Chelsea could also feel particularly hard done by as Halsey also missed a very clear and obvious penalty and red card for denial of a goalscoring opportunity when Micah Richards shoved Nicolas Anelka as the Chelsea striker was about to shoot.